IEEE Spectrum November, 2016 - 13

aBove iT all: SenseFly's eBee SQ can fly over
hundreds of hectares of farmland on a single
charge. The drone's multispectral camera scans
in color and in four nonvisible wavelengths that
are important to crop health.

agriCuLture
Drones are
FinaLLy CLeareD
For takeoFF

senseFly

new u.S. rules for commercial drones will
benefit farmers and the drone industry
Tech-savvy farmers have been some of the earliest
commercial adopters of drone technology, purchasing
45,000 drones last year alone. But if they were using the
drones to check on the condition of their fields, spraying
their crops, or keeping tabs on livestock, most of them were technically breaking the law. New U.S. federal rules that went into effect this
summer, however, should make it easier for farmers to get a drone'seye view of their fields.
The new rules allow commercial drone operators to get certified
via a written test, so long as they fly drones that meet certain weight
and altitude guidelines. Before this, operators had to pay for a pilot's
license and get a special exemption to use a drone, a slow and cumbersome process.
The rules are a win for farmers, drone companies, and everyday consumers. Worldwide, agriculture is the largest commercial market for
unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs. And it is expected to bag 80 per-

cent of all commercial drone use in the
United States. About half of the 5,500
exemptions that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved
up to now were for agricultural purposes, says Brian Wynne, president and
CEO of the Association for Unmanned
Vehicle Systems International. With the
new rules, the FAA expects more than
600,000 commercial UAVs to be flying
during the next year. "These numbers
foreshadow the exciting potential that
UASs [unmanned aircraft systems] have
for the agriculture industry now that the
small UAS rule is in place," Wynne says.
By using drones to scout for weeds and
pests, spot diseased plants or dry areas,
and spray the right amount of fertilizer
and pesticide, farmers can increase yield
with less resources and environmental harm. Returns are especially steep
for high-value crops like wine grapes.
Drones are cheaper than hiring a small
plane and, in contrast to satellites, work
in cloudy conditions and give higherresolution images. Prices for ready-tofly agricultural UAV systems-hardware,
sensors, and software included-range
from US $1,500 to over $25,000.
"This is going to have a big impact on
farmers," says Kyle Miller, an applications engineer at agricultural drone
maker AgEagle Aerial Systems, in
Neodesha, Kan. Miller, who has been
flying robotic aircraft over his family's
soybean farms as a hobbyist for years,
says interest in the technology among
farmers he knows is soaring. "Now that
the new rules are out, farmers know
drones are coming to their area," he says.
Until now, many drone technology
providers sat on the sidelines, not wanting to go ahead with drone testing or use
given the lack of a clear regulatory path,
says Nathan Stein, agricultural solutions manager at Swiss drone maker

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum November, 2016